Getting Tauranga kids back out on their bikes

Friederike V.Bultzingslowen, Zykyia Peka 13, Andrew Thorpe, and Alec V.B.Newington, 10, (left to right) love getting out on their bikes. Photo / Andrew Warner

A local advocacy group has teamed up with Sport Bay of Plenty to host an event that aims to get kids out of the car and on to their bikes.

The Bike Tauranga "Pedal Party" will be held this Sunday and is an all-ages event that intends to show community support for the Tauranga City Cycle plan and the recently completed Kopurererua Valley cycleways.

Chairman of Bike Tauranga, Kevin Kerr, said the event aimed to promote safety and more active lifestyles on bikes.

He said the group wanted to see Tauranga become a more cycle-friendly environment, and with the introduction of the new cycleways in the Kopurererua Valley, the city was one step closer.

Better-quality cycleways mean the road becomes safer for cyclists and motorists, he said.

Bike Tauranga works closely with the Tauranga City Council in the planning stages of new cycleways in the area.

The "Pedal Party" will have three off-road cycle routes to cater for all ages and abilities.

Participants are also encouraged to cycle to the event if it can be safely done, however, there is plenty of parking on site.

There will also be a BMX display, Lex Spencer's "famous crazy bikes", bike shop tents and food and drink stalls.

The event aims to give parents peace of mind about their child's safety on bikes.

One of Bike Tauranga's big focuses is to get more kids back on bikes as we have "lost a generation of kids biking to school, due mainly to safety issues", Kerr said.

The cycling co-ordinator for Sport Bay of Plenty, Andrew Thorpe, said 20 years ago loads of children biked to school, but that number had dropped significantly in the last 10 years and with fewer people biking, putting more cars and traffic on the road.

Sport Bay of Plenty have recently brought a "Travel Safe" initiative into schools that aims to change attitudes around kids cycle safety.

The initiative pushed the creation of a "cycle school bus" for schools around the Tauranga area that allowed children to ride to school in groups and be shown by local experts the safest way to do so.

Thorpe said the Mount had the largest group with about 13 groups of six children.

The Tauranga City Council announced that from Monday, the current gravel cycle path in Kopurereua Valley would be chip sealed to make it easier and safer for people on all types of bikes.

Bike Tauranga confirmed this would not affect the event.

Kerr said they were rapt about the resealing and had been advocating for it for a while.

The "Pedal Party" will start at the 17th Avenue Skate Park Reserve near the Historic Village from 9am on Sunday.